SULAIMANIYAH: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani flew back to his Kurdish fiefdom of Sulaimaniyah yesterday after more than 18 months in Germany for medical treatment, sources in his Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said.
The 80-year-old head of state arrived on a private aircraft, but access to the airport was restricted to his close entourage.
“A German medical team is accompanying Talabani to monitor his health,” Begerd Talabani, a niece of the president and a member of the Kurdish parliament, said.
The PUK said on Friday the avuncular octogenarian was ready to resume his duties, but sources close to Talabani said a doctor and two nurses would remain by his side, suggesting he was still frail.
While most of Iraq’s political power lies with the prime minister’s office, Talabani was long seen as a key mediator between the country’s feuding factions.
AFP
